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On May 26 — nearly six months after the sudden resignation of Colorado State University President Larry Penley — the system’s Board of Governors announced that they are replacing him with Tony Frank, former CSU provost and acting president since Penley’s resignation.

At the Tuesday meeting, the board also discussed their decision three weeks ago to name Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Joe Blake as the sole finalist for position of CSU chancellor, a newly created position.

COLORADO SPRINGS — The city of Colorado Springs has hammered out a response to a lawsuit filed by developer Ray Marshall and his company, LandCo Equity Partners, LLP, completing the first step in what the city hopes will be the resolution of a conflict that threatens to move the United States Olympic Headquarters and Training Center to another city.

COLORADO SPRINGS — Although El Paso County is best-known as a bastion of religious right, pro-gun, anti-abortion and anti-gay politics, it’s also home to an outspoken cadre of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Democrats — some of whom gathered last weekend to hear a speech by Jon Hoadley, executive director of the National Stonewall Democrats, the LGBT wing of the Democratic Party.

COLORADO SPRINGS — Mayor Lionel Rivera has been accused of violating the city of Colorado Springs’ ethics code. Under scrutiny is Rivera’s role in negotiating a deal that awarded a $53 million contract to a developer to build a new headquarters for the United States Olympic Committee, remodel offices in a city-owned building and upgrade the Olympic Training Center.

Gov. Bill Ritter signed his first veto of 2009 last week, quashing a bill that would have allowed residents with a concealed-weapons permit to bypass criminal-background checks when purchasing new guns.

The legislation passed with heavy bipartisan support through the Legislature with 19 Democrats in the House and Senate approving the measure. It was sponsored in the House by Rep. Steve King, R-Grand Junction, and in the Senate by Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray.

In a ruling last week, a Denver district judge ordered the state’s Independent Ethics Commission to turn over records including written requests from government employees asking for ethical advice.

The ruling by Judge Norman Haglund came after the non-profit group Colorado Ethics Watch sued the commission for what it said was an illegal effort to withhold its working documents from the public and operate essentially as a non-governmental entity.

FOUNTAIN — “There is no problem that defies a solution,” said Gov. Bill Ritter, extolling the bipartisan efforts to create the Fountain Creek Watershed District. The bill, which Ritter signed into law last month, will provide funding opportunities and resolve longtime disputes between El Paso County and Pueblo County over improving and maintaining the creek.

Colorado’s Libertarian Party, long considered a political stepchild by the major political parties in the state, is trying to revamp its image — and it doesn’t stop with the addition of four new leaders elected a week ago. Former Libertarian Party legislative director David K. Williams, the new state chairman, plans to build the party and recruit unaffiliated voters frustrated with the current Republican or Democratic platforms. He also wants to hammer down and strengthen the vision of the Libertarians.

Days after U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack heard pleas for federal help from Eastern Plains farmers in the state who stand to lose everything as a result of the closure of Greeley’s New Frontier Bank, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said it would change its plans, but only slightly.

LITTLETON — With one quick tug of the rope, Gov. Bill Ritter pulled the curtain off a new road sign on Belleview Avenue just west of Santa Fe Drive on Tuesday morning.

The sign is the first of many highway markers that will alert drivers to road projects funded by the federal stimulus package signed by President Barack Obama in February at the Museum of Nature and Science in Denver.